Tell me a Story
by Slytherin Head
Summary: AU! Severitus. A sleepy Harry wants to hear a story. "Tell me about when you first fell in love with…"


_A/N- This is an AU story._

_This was made for the "**The Beginning of Love**" challenge at Hogwarts Online. _

_Yeah, I know I should be working on "Attack of the Mini Cupids" but this challenge was to good to pass up. Thanks to my lovely beta debjunk for all the help. You helped me write my first ever one-shot and kept me from turning this into a monter of a chapter story._

_Please review! I would love to know what you all thought about the story._

* * *

Nine-year-old Harry looked at his guardian who was standing next to him. It had been almost a year since he had been taken from the "care" of the Dursley's., His guardian was slowly helping him understand that he was not a useless freak. Harry now knew better than that. He now knew that his parents had died while trying to protect him and not in car crash.. He now knew that all the "freakish" things that he did, as Vernon use to say, were really magic. He, Harry James Potter-Snape, was a wizard.

And really, it was the coolest thing in the world.

"Harry! Keep your eyes on the potion!"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"If you want to make it out alive from a potions lab, you must always pay attention to your work. Otherwise, St. Mungo's will have to scrape whatever is left of you off the walls."

Gulping, Harry concentrated harder on his work.

ooooOoooo

Two hours later, Harry was nervously rocking from foot to foot while Severus examine his potion. The man had his poker face on, and it made Harry really anxious. How was he suppose to know if he did a good job when Severus wasn't even blinking?

"Mr. Potter, this potion is…" Harry held his breath. "…passable, I suppose. Please pack it up with the rest of the potions that will be sent to Madam Pomfrey, and clean up your station. When you are finished, I'll be waiting for you in the yard with lunch."

Harry was speechless. Passable? His potion was passable? That was the highest praise anyone could get from the man! Really now, if it wasn't for wanting to keep his cool, he knew that at that moment he would be jumping around the lab high-five-ing every invisible being in the place.

ooooOoooo

Severus had been teaching him to clean up as he worked on a potion so it didn't take long for Harry to finish this task. When he made it out to the patio, Severus was just setting the pumpkin juice down.

"All done! Are we going to Hogwarts to drop it off at the infirmary, or are you going to use your owl instead?"

"It all depends if a certain brat eats all of his lunch along with his potions."

While his guardian turned back to get Harry's nutritive potion from the kitchen, Harry couldn't help but make a face at the thought of having to take his potion. It tasted awful.

"Make that face again and we wont go and visit your godmother either."

"Awww!" But I can't help it. That potion tastes…"

The stern look that Severus sent Harry was enough for the small boy to keep quiet and eat his meal. Harry knew that there was still a small chance that he would be able to go to Hogwarts, but he had to be really good through all of lunch.

Harry waited till Severus was done with his meal before bouncing off his chair and following the tall man back to the house, although with his small legs it was more like he was running after his guardian. When they were standing at the front door Harry could have sworn he saw a small smile on Severus' face, but it was gone before he could fix his glasses.

"Now," Severus said as he summoned their cloaks. "You know the rules young man. You are to stay by my side at all times unless I give you permission to go elsewhere."

"Am I going to get to see my godmother, sir?" Harry asked timidly.

"Perhaps," Severus said. "But if we do, Nymphadora and you are to stay away from all things breakable. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir. I don't want Tonks to break her arm again. It looked liked it hurt a lot,"Harry said with a slight wince.

After making sure that Harry's cloak was on right, the two of them walked outside the house and towards the Apparition site. Knowing the routine, Harry wrapped his arms around Seveus' waist as the Potions master made sure one last time that the potions that Poppy needed were in his pocket. Once he was sure that he had everything, Severus wrapped his own arm around Harry's shoulders and Disapparated to Hogwarts.

ooooOoooo

"Dad? How did Tonks manage to break a leg when we were just swimming in the lake?" a sleepy Harry asked Severus as they made their way to the dungeons. It was too late to Apparate back to their house.

So, instead the Potions master was now carrying his adopted son down to their rooms in the dungeons. He knew that Harry was sleepy because it was the only time when the small boy felt safe enough to call him dad. "I honestly do not know, son. It's a miracle she hasn't broken every bone in her body at least twice."

Harry giggled, giving off another sign that he was really tired.

When they finally made it to their rooms, Severus helped Harry into his pajamas and tucked him in bed. Thinking that the small boy had fallen asleep, he brushed some hair away from Harry's face and was about to walk away when he felt a small hand grab his own.

Looking down he saw that Harry was barely keeping his eyes open. "Harry, go to sleep," he ordered.

"Dad, tell me a story, please?"

"You know I can't tell stories..." Whatever else Severus was planning on saying was cut short when he saw what Harry was doing. _'Oh, no. NO! Not that. Anything but that, please! Damn. Puppy eyes. You, Severus Snape, can stand up against Death Eaters but you can't stand up against a nine-year-old's puppy eyes? You're going soft.'_

Before a tantrum started Severus quickly summoned a chair and sat down next to Harry's bed. Still holding the small boy's hand he asked the dreaded question. "What kind of story do you want to hear?"

'_Lectures upon lectures. Reports after reports and I'm nervous about telling a kid's night tale?'_

"Tell me about when you first fell in love with…"

'_Oh, sweet Merlin, please don't say Lily.'_

"Potions."

"What?" Severus asked, making sure that he had heard right.

"Tell me about when you first fell in love with Potions. Please?"

Should he tell this small boy about how it all happened? Would he able to understand? Of course he would, he'd had the same life for eight years. "Are you sure? Son, it's not a nice tale."

"Please, Daddy!"

"Fine, but close your eyes." Taking a deep breath Severus prepared himself for a long night.

'_Idiot, you fell for the word "Daddy". Pathetic.'_

"The first potion I ever made was when I was five. I had made it for my mother who was very ill at the time. It was Fever Reducer, but it took me longer than usual to make it."

"Because you were so young?" Harry asked.

"No, it took such a long time because my father hated anything to do with magic."

"Just like the Dursleys?"

"Exactly, like them. Harry are you sure about this?"

'Don't worry, Daddy," Harry said giving Severus' hand a squeeze. "I'm okay."

Taking the small boy's hand in both of his Severus told his tale.

**1966- October**

"**Boy! Get yer arse down her' righ' now!"**

"**Yes, sir." A small boy walked down the stairs towards the living room. He knew what was coming, but he was determine not to show any fear. He had to be strong for his mother's sake.**

**Once he was standing in front of his father, he braced himself for the punishment that his father was really to leash out on him. He didn't look at his father. No, he wasn't stupid enough to do so. Making eye contact with him would just anger him further and make him think that Severus was trying to defy him.**

**As he looked at the shoelaces of his worn out trainers, he could have sworn that his father indeed had magic, because it seemed as if time had slowed down. What was the monster thinking about. Was he trying to think of a new way to use the belt? Or was he thinking that maybe the belt wasn't enough now and was looking around their small home trying to find something that would hurt more than the belt.**

**After what seemed like an eternity, Severus was knocked down to the floor by his father's fist. The hit was so hard Severus was seeing stars. He could feel something warm trailing down his face and knew that his nose was broken.**

"**You worthless freak!" Tobias said as he aimed a kick to the small boys midsection. "Why can't you be normal like the other boys?"**

**Another kick made contact with Severus, this time with the back of his head. Tobias was still wearing his work boots so the pain was intensified. The only thing Severus could do was curl up in a ball and try to protect the front of this body.**

**ooooOoooo**

**Severus was trying to keep his arm up as he carefully stirred the potion for his mother's fever. His father didn't care that she was sick. He didn't give any money to Severus so the little boy could buy some Muggle medicine. When it didn't look like the fever was going to break anytime soon, Severus decided to try his hand at potions.**

**According to the text, the potion was suppose to take only a day to make, but because he had to keep it hidden from his father it had taken almost three days. His mother's fever was still very high, and Severus knew that if he didn't do something soon, she was going to die. He wasn't going to let that happen because she was the only happiness that he had in his life.**

**Looking down at the now finished potion, Severus waited for it to cool down. Now he knew why his mum had loved potions when she was at Hogwarts. There was something soothing about making a potion with your own two hands and knowing that it was going to help someone.**

**He was grateful that his mum had been teaching him since he was three about the different properties of certain ingredients and also the uses of some common potions. If she hadn't, he doubted that he would've had the courage to try making such an advanced potion.**

"**Severus?" The voice was so low he almost didn't hear it.**

**Turning around he saw his mum standing near the kitchen doorway, using the wall to support herself. Her thin frame was shaking from the fever. Her skin was paler than usual; she almost looked like a walking corpse.**

"**Mum! Go back to bed; you shouldn't be up." Jumping off the chair he was using to stand over the counter, Severus walked towards his mum and took her hand. "Come on, let's get you back to your room. Did you want something to eat? Is that why you got up?"**

"**No, that's not it," Eileen said in almost a whisper. "I wanted to see what you were doing. I thought perhaps you were reading. I never expected to see you brewing."**

"**I had to figure out a way to help you, Mum. I don't want to see you like this. Besides, it's my job to look after you."**

**They had made it to Eileen's room, and Severus was helping her get back in bed. Her small trip had taken a lot out of her, and she looked even more pale than before.**

"**I thought it was my job to take care of you." Tears fell from Eileen's face as she cradled Severus' small face in her hands. "Look at what that monster did to you." Her fingers carefully caressed his broken nose. By the time she got better it would be too late to fix his nose back to the way it was. Now, it had a small hook to it.**

"**I'm fine, Mum! Honest! Don't worry about me, okay? Just sleep so you can get better."**

**Eileen gently stroked Severus face as sleep slowly took over. "My brave, little prince."**

**When he was sure that his mum was sleeping, Severus started planning. He knew that if his potion didn't work, then he would either risk taking his mum to the hospital or call his godmother. Neither of those two ideas pleased him, but he wasn't about to just sit and do nothing, like his father.**

**When his mother woke up again, Severus was able to give her the Fever Reducer. His mother wasn't able to stay awake long enough for him to ask her if he had made the potion right. But after a couple of minutes he watched in amazement as her fever broke, and her temperature began to return to a lower level.**

**He couldn't help the tears of relief that fell from his eyes. After all the years that his father had told him he was useless, now he could prove the man wrong.**

"**What do you think about that, Father?" He said through his tears. "I did something without messing up. I did something you would never in your life have the guts to do. If this is what it feels like to help someone—to cure someone you love—I want to do it for the rest of my life. If I can make a potion meant for a fifth year, then I can certainty give mum a better life than this one."**

**Somewhere inside of him courage began to burn. Without thinking about it, Severus got up, wiped the tears from his face, and made his way downstairs.**

**ooooOoooo**

"What happened when you left the room, Dad?" Harry was now perched on Severus' lap with his head resting against his father's chest.

Severus gave a small chuckle. "I went and told my father what a useless toe-rag he was. He in turn beat the snot out of me. But, because I knew what I could do, he couldn't make me feel miserable."

"So, that's why you love Potions? Because they were easy for you to make?"

"No, son. I love Potions because they helped me take care of the people I loved the most. After my mum was better I kept making more potions. Salves for bruises, cuts and burns. It was my specialty. I could make them without having to look at the text by the time I was your age."

"Brilliant" Harry sleepily said.

Severus simply smiled and gathered the small boy in his arms, laying him back into the bed. Tucking the covers around the little boy, he waited until Harry's breathing evened out. Dimming the light, he walked out of the room, leaving the door slightly open in case Harry woke up later in the night.

Sitting down in his favorite chair in front of the fire, he thought back to when he had made that potion for the very first time. Severus wondered if his father had not been the abusive monster that he had been, would he have ever dared to make such a complicated potion.

"No," he said to himself. "I was so desperate to help mum. That's the only reason why I had even dared to brew, knowing that if he had found out, I would have been beaten senseless."

He knew that had the past been different he would have been one of those boys who were crazy about sports. He hadn't had time for sports. He had to take care of those he loved, even if they were taken away from him later on. He remembered working non-stop in his sixth year at Hogwarts trying to find a cure for cancer. His mum had been diagnosed with it, and they had given her a year to live.

But he hadn't been able to do anything. He had to stand by in the end and watch as the only person who had ever loved him was taken away from him.

Looking at the door to Harry's room he vowed that he wouldn't let anyone take away that small angel from him. He didn't know when it had happened, but he knew that if anything were to happen to Harry he would never forgive himself. He would use his Potions skills, his first love, and protect that little boy from those who worshiped the Dark.


End file.
